


Crash

by Niki



Series: Hurt/Comfort Sequence [4]
Category: Lewis (TV)
Genre: Car Accidents, Gen, Pre-Slash, Quality of Mercy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-14
Updated: 2013-04-14
Packaged: 2017-12-08 11:52:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 545
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/761009
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Niki/pseuds/Niki
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As a cop, James has seen his share of traffic accidents.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Crash

**Author's Note:**

> Lewis Secret Santa story for Sarren in lewis_challenge.
> 
> Huge thank you to my Brit picker and beta lygtemanden for a last minute check.

As a cop, James has seen his share of traffic accidents, some fatal, some minor. Some that are easily brushed aside, some that will have lingering effects for years.

He never actually thought about those effects in detail. The physical side is obvious: some injuries never heal. He logs them, maybe testifies in court, and that is that. Deaths are awful, such a waste, but he can always move on. Write it down, move to the next case. 

When he meets Lewis the old man could be limping, bleeding, horribly scarred – that obvious are the after-effects of the accident that changed his life. His scars are on the inside, born as much from the loss of wife as the inability to get the man responsible. He is a copper as well as a spouse and it doesn't take long for James to realise how badly his new boss is still affected by the hit and run. 

At first he observes it, superficially empathising with the man, like any casual observer might. Then, as his own affection grows, the knowledge of the other man's pain grows as well, and his hurts become James'. 

He needs the closure, too, for Lewis.

That is why he spends his precious free time going through hundreds of news clippings in the hidden room. He doesn't really believe they will find anything but he has to be there, has to be there for Lewis. Has to, because he recognises the scars, and wants to help heal them. No, not quite that. He doesn't think he can really do that. But maybe some closure would help them heal cleanly. They will always be there, but maybe they can stop bleeding. 

He knows Lewis has come a long way from the tired old man he picked up from the airport. He looks much younger these days, sleeps better, eats better, and seems to have regained something, maybe a sense of purpose, that seemed to be missing from the man in the hideous shirt.

Maybe, if he can just put this one accident behind him, he can be even more whole. Maybe he can let go of his wife and... and find someone who is not as unsuitable for him as the women he seems to go for these days. 

Is it the cop in James who worries at the Monkford case like a dog with a bone, or is it the concerned friend? Or is it a man with vested interest in the healing of those wounds? 

He doesn't know nor does he care because the end result is the same. He has to help Lewis find closure because a guilty man is out there, and an innocent man is suffering for it. 

It's not like he thinks that putting the man in prison will instantly stop the after-effects of the accident for his boss but he knows it will do something. 

It's as much for himself as for Lewis that he sits in court with him. Support, yes, but also the very basic need to see it through. 

He wasn't hurt in the accident, nor did he even know the people involved at the time. 

He would never have believed how much a case not directly involving him could affect his life.


End file.
